Following on from their much-loved 'Heliotropia' EP last year, Berlin-based trio Swiss Pleasure have now returned to share the official video for its standout offering, '2009'.
A visually striking portrayal of isolation and escapism, directed by Mayar Attia, the video contrasts warm, intimate tea party scenes with eerie outdoor moments, symbolising the unavoidable intrusion of reality into the protagonist’s imagined world.
So with the new video available to stream now, we sat down with them to find out more about their origins and what has been inspiring them most over the years.
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What was the first instrument you fell in love with?
Claire: I remember loving to try out all the instruments that I encountered as a kid and falling madly in love with a family friend’s harp. Unfortunately, we lived in a small flat and my parents were firmly against any big instrument, so I ended up learning to play the flute instead.
Alea: I think it would have to be piano. My parents had an old upright and I loved playing on that thing. I think it was the freedom of being able to press the keys and make up melodies without having any formal technique or understanding.
Agathe: For sure that would be the piano. I would steal my parent’s classical piano CDs and listen to them in my bedroom, feeling like all those compositions were grander than me.
What kind of music did you love when you were younger?
Claire: I feel like I went through so many phases… I was such a HUGE fan of Britney Spears when I was a kid (I can still recognize all her official press photos from that era and enumerate random facts about her to this day ahaha) but then evolved into loving everything rock as a teenager, with my first big crushes (boringly?) being the Beatles and then the Clash, before moving on to that whole indie rock wave from the early 2000s. I was a massive Libertines, Strokes and early-years Arctic Monkeys fan, I must say. My dad also introduced me to a lot of French artists who I still love to this day, namely the Alain Souchon/ Laurent Voulzy duo of singers/ authors/ songwriters.
Alea: Every day I’d get the bus to and from school and the radio would always be on playing whatever was charting at the time. I didn’t have a great time amongst my peers, so I’d often sit in a single seat at the front and just listen to the songs. I developed an affinity for pop through that. Then, at some point, my older brother introduced me to “grunge” and I was pretty hooked on that throughout my teens.
Agathe: Generally a huge rock fan. I had a punk-rock phase of course, but as I got into my sixteens I was into prog and psych-rock. I didn’t have enough pocket money to buy CDs so I was mostly digging my parent’s old records (Supertramp, Pink Floyd) and borrowing CDs from the library (that’s how I got my hands on Yes or The Clash).
What was the first album you remember owning?
Claire: Does it really count as an album? That “Beatles 1” compilation really marked me and then, my godfather got me a box set from the Clash, which included “The Clash”, “London Calling” and “Combat Rock” and that was it for me!
Alea: My brother bought me a Robbie Williams cassette tape - I guess “Life Thru A Lens” - which had “Angels” on it. I remember playing that thing on repeat. I probably wore the tape out.
Agathe: Well that is a slightly embarrassing question but I can’t lie, the first album I owned was “Gourmandises” by Alizee (the singer behind “Moi Lolita”).
What is the one song you wished you could have written yourself?
Alea: Definitely lots of songs I’ve wished I could have written. One that comes to mind, though, “Simon and Garfunkel - The Sound Of Silence”. Timeless and beautiful. Probably not the first or last to use it as an example, but it’s a mood.
Agathe: I actually have a playlist of songs I wish I had written! Difficult to choose one. Maybe today that’d be “The First Taste” from Fiona Apple.
Claire: We already had that debate because I’m a “Bridge Over Troubles Waters” girl, so definitely that Simon and Garfunkel one, but if I had to pick another artist and another song, maybe today I’d go for Ride’s “Vapour Trail”. I love every single bit of it, it’s just a timeless catchy little gem.
Do you have any habits or rituals you go through when trying to write new music?
Alea: Going against doctor’s advice and keeping my phone near my bed when I go to sleep. Ideas often come right when falling asleep or waking up and if I don’t record them, they’re gone. Otherwise, singing melodies and adding chords and lyrics later. When we’re working together on a song it often feels like they write themselves, either from the lyrics or from ideas that we all have percolating in our consciousnesses.
Agathe: No habits, but I definitely sneak in the toilets of cafes or stop mid-run to record melodies on my phone.
Claire: I wouldn’t call it a ritual and I know it’s a massive cliché but I feel down, like very very VERY down, I know inspiration will come to me and I kind of strangely look forward to it, in a way.
Who are your favourite artists you have found yourself listening to at the moment?
Agathe: Hikes for excitement, Faye Webster & Fiona Apple for wounds, Bill Evans for the heart.
Claire: I go through obsessive phases and this past year has been all about Fontaines DC, Crack Cloud and revisiting old Black Country, New Road releases. German “neue neue deutsche Welle” artist Edwin Rosen and Squid are also doing a comeback on my playlist rotation because they just released some new music.
If you could open a show for anyone in the world, who would it be?
Claire: Fontaines DC. They’re the moment, we all love their music and values and they seem to be great human beings. I’m sure we’d have a blast.
Alea: Seconding Claire’s response. Totally Fontaines DC.
Agathe: We are a democratic band so that would be Fontaines DC, - although I would in my wildest dreams open for Hiatus Kaiyote because I admire them too much for my own good.
What do you find is the most rewarding part about being a musician?
Agathe: For me it’s all about expression. There are some emotions I can only funnel through music (either as a listener or a player).
Alea: The understanding and connection playing and listening to music brings to yourself and to others.
Claire: A couple of things for me: being on stage and connecting with your audience in that way but also that unique feeling of excitement to see your ideas coming to life, with that special flavour of being in a band and witnessing how we build songs together.
And what is the most frustrating part?
Agathe: For sure not being able to express yourself fully on the instrument. Most of the time, for me, it is due to being an amateur and not having played enough to build the right vocabulary. I am always envious of musicians who’ve spent so much time with their instrument that they can play directly from their heart.
Alea: The difficulty to separate our musical intentions and expression from the socio-economic system we’re all socialised into. The value of music is so often framed from an economic point of view, which can lead to it feeling like a numbers game or a competitive sport. To what extent do we compromise our artistic integrity or output to increase the chances of “success” or “popularity”? As artists I would hope we’re always being as truthful as possible, but it’s an ever-present conundrum.
Claire: I second what Alea just said. I often wish there was no external pressure of any sort on what we’re doing and that we could just express ourselves however, whenever we want and it wasn’t so much a game of numbers and network. And this is coming from someone who’s been working on the other side of the music business for 15 years now.
And what is the best piece of advice you have received as a musician?
Agathe: Serve the song and not yourself? It’s not always easy to do but I try to stay aware of it. I keep it at the back of my head.
Alea: Following on from Agathe (who I’m 100% in agreement with), “if you can’t hear it, you can’t play it”. Your ears (and voice) are probably your best guide and the most honest route to expressing your inner voice.
Claire: Probably that playing, writing or performing in whatever capacity makes you a musician. Having picked up my current instrument and songwriting as an adult and being basically self-taught for both of these sometimes gives me massive impostor syndrome.
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Swiss Pleasure's new video for '2009' is available to stream now. Watch it in the player below.